Reynard and Villeneuve make up

Two weeks ago the Canadian hinted Reynard should quit if he was not prepared to give the team more of his time.

Villeneuve has expressed mounting frustration with his race machine which has broken down six times in the first seven races

'Jacques came to see me - I was surprised being slagged off my him like that,' said Reynard.

'We are pretty close. To set the record straight I have been to three races and five tests.'

Reynard, who's other company builds most of the cars on the Indycar grid, said there had been confusion over his job title because he was not the team's technical director.

'Its difficult because there are a lot of people competing for my time.

When I went into this with BAR they realised I had other commitments, other companies and go to Indycar races.

'Of the people competing for my time there is my wife and my five kids and other companies including BAR and Jacques Villeneuve - I guess I prioritise them in that order and he didnt like the priority.

'He likes a lot of attention and we have made up our differences and we havent got a problem any more. But it is unfortunate because the remarks dont reflect well on me, or on the team.'

He admitted he expected the team to have its first points by now.

'We have made big improvements. We got a sound package. Have we got a winning package? - we would be extremely lucky to win races but that was always the aim. It still is the aim and it is my personal aim and will remain the aim.'

Despite brief competitive showings, including two starts in the top six by Villeneuve, BAR and Minardi are the only two of the 11 teams yet to score a point this year.